Petition and asset freeze: Ukraine's anti-corruption debate in early September 2023
A look back at two anti-corruption developments reported on 8 September 2023, as seen from the covered date of 12 September 2023.
What was the state of Ukraine's anti-corruption debate on 12 September 2023? It had been shaped days earlier, on 8 September 2023, by two developments: public pressure over asset declarations and action against an oligarch's assets.
On 8 September 2023, tens of thousands of Ukrainians signed a petition asking President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to veto legislation on asset declarations. Critics believed the law could prevent officials from being held accountable, because it delayed a requirement to declare their assets publicly.
The same day, Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau froze more than $80 million in assets belonging to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. The freeze lasted 48 hours and formed part of an embezzlement investigation.
Taken together, the two reports from 8 September 2023 showed anti-corruption questions at the centre of public life: citizens pressing the president over transparency rules, while investigators moved against the assets of a prominent businessman.
